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Cindytalk is the mercurial, expressionist outlet of Scottish artist Cinder. An evolution of her early 1980's Edinburgh-based punk band The Freeze, she launched the project upon moving to London, inspired by the crossroads of exploratory UK post-punk and early European industrial. Her work thrives on chance and transformation, collaging elements of noise, balladry, soundtrack, catharsis, and improvisation. After a series of celebrated albums for the Midnight Music label as well as collaborations with This Mortal Coil and Cocteau Twins, Cinder migrated to the United States, becoming involved with various underground techno collectives around the Midwest and West Coast. Subsequent relocations to Hong Kong and Japan further expanded Cindytalk's horizons, resulting in a fruitful partnership with Viennese experimental institution Editions Mego, for whom she released five full-lengths of swooning, granular atmosphere. 2021 finds her as engaged as ever, at the precipice of long-awaited back catalog reissues alongside multiple new works, guided by her lasting love of discovery and deviation: “new pathways always being uncovered.”

The 3rd album by Scottish industrial enigma Cinder aka Cindytalk began life as the soundtrack to an experimental film by English director Ivan Unnwin entitled Eclipse (The Amateur Enthusiast's Guide To Virus Deployment), and was originally slated for release via Factory Records' video division, Ikon. Inspired heavily by Alan Splet's eerily disembodied sound design in David Lynch's Eraserhead, the collection's 15 pieces seethe between field recordings, wistful piano vignettes, and lurking metallic haze – a hybrid palette Cinder characterized at the time as “ambi-dustrial.” Unfortunately Ikon collapsed on the eve of the project's completion so the film was never distributed, but the Midnight Music imprint repackaged Cindytalk's score as an LP in 1990 under the name The Wind Is Strong... (full title: The Wind Is Strong - A Sparrow Dances, Piercing Holes in Our Sky).

Cindytalk is the mercurial, expressionist outlet of Scottish artist Cinder. An evolution of her early 1980's Edinburgh-based punk band The Freeze, she launched the project upon moving to London, inspired by the crossroads of exploratory UK post-punk and early European industrial. Her work thrives on chance and transformation, collaging elements of noise, balladry, soundtrack, catharsis, and improvisation. After a series of celebrated albums for the Midnight Music label as well as collaborations with This Mortal Coil and Cocteau Twins, Cinder migrated to the United States, becoming involved with various underground techno collectives around the Midwest and West Coast. Subsequent relocations to Hong Kong and Japan further expanded Cindytalk's horizons, resulting in a fruitful partnership with Viennese experimental institution Editions Mego, for whom she released five full-lengths of swooning, granular atmosphere. 2021 finds her as engaged as ever, at the precipice of long-awaited back catalog reissues alongside multiple new works, guided by her lasting love of discovery and deviation: “new pathways always being uncovered.”

The 3rd album by Scottish industrial enigma Cinder aka Cindytalk began life as the soundtrack to an experimental film by English director Ivan Unnwin entitled Eclipse (The Amateur Enthusiast's Guide To Virus Deployment), and was originally slated for release via Factory Records' video division, Ikon. Inspired heavily by Alan Splet's eerily disembodied sound design in David Lynch's Eraserhead, the collection's 15 pieces seethe between field recordings, wistful piano vignettes, and lurking metallic haze – a hybrid palette Cinder characterized at the time as “ambi-dustrial.” Unfortunately Ikon collapsed on the eve of the project's completion so the film was never distributed, but the Midnight Music imprint repackaged Cindytalk's score as an LP in 1990 under the name The Wind Is Strong... (full title: The Wind Is Strong - A Sparrow Dances, Piercing Holes in Our Sky).

Cindytalk is the mercurial, expressionist outlet of Scottish artist Cinder. An evolution of her early 1980's Edinburgh-based punk band The Freeze, she launched the project upon moving to London, inspired by the crossroads of exploratory UK post-punk and early European industrial. Her work thrives on chance and transformation, collaging elements of noise, balladry, soundtrack, catharsis, and improvisation. After a series of celebrated albums for the Midnight Music label as well as collaborations with This Mortal Coil and Cocteau Twins, Cinder migrated to the United States, becoming involved with various underground techno collectives around the Midwest and West Coast. Subsequent relocations to Hong Kong and Japan further expanded Cindytalk's horizons, resulting in a fruitful partnership with Viennese experimental institution Editions Mego, for whom she released five albums of swooning, granular atmosphere. 2021 finds her as engaged as ever, at the precipice of long-awaited back catalog reissues alongside multiple new works, guided by her lasting love of discovery and deviation: “new pathways always being uncovered.”

Across decades of activity Cinder’s body of work has forever followed its own elusive muse but nowhere is this restless spirit more apparent and ambitious than the 4th Cindytalk LP, Wappinschaw. Conceived as “a call to arms” inspired by Scotland and its struggle for independence, the title refers to an archaic Scottish battle inspection during which clan chieftains surveyed their group's weapons to ensure they were combat ready. A mindset of reflective preparation threads throughout the record, manifested in forms both naked and noisy, ancient and anguished.

Opening with an aching solo vocal rendition of the British folk standard “The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face),” the album then surges into the Cindytalk classic, “A Song Of Changes,” sparkling and spiraling in strange waves of sorrow and joy. From there the mood fragments, tracing asymmetrical paths of feverish dirge, pensive spirituals, noir abstraction, spoken word (landmark Glaswegian writer Alasdair Gray guests on “Wheesht”), bagpipe drone, and apocalyptic post-punk. Given its aggressive eclecticism, it's not surprising that Cinder describes the creation of Wappinschaw as a “precarious” process, composed from “scraps” with abruptly shifting personnel – a situation only compounded by the impending dissolution of their label at the time, Midnight Music.

Cindytalk is the mercurial, expressionist outlet of Scottish artist Cinder. An evolution of her early 1980's Edinburgh-based punk band The Freeze, she launched the project upon moving to London, inspired by the crossroads of exploratory UK post-punk and early European industrial. Her work thrives on chance and transformation, collaging elements of noise, balladry, soundtrack, catharsis, and improvisation. After a series of celebrated albums for the Midnight Music label as well as collaborations with This Mortal Coil and Cocteau Twins, Cinder migrated to the United States, becoming involved with various underground techno collectives around the Midwest and West Coast. Subsequent relocations to Hong Kong and Japan further expanded Cindytalk's horizons, resulting in a fruitful partnership with Viennese experimental institution Editions Mego, for whom she released five albums of swooning, granular atmosphere. 2021 finds her as engaged as ever, at the precipice of long-awaited back catalog reissues alongside multiple new works, guided by her lasting love of discovery and deviation: “new pathways always being uncovered.”

Across decades of activity Cinder’s body of work has forever followed its own elusive muse but nowhere is this restless spirit more apparent and ambitious than the 4th Cindytalk LP, Wappinschaw. Conceived as “a call to arms” inspired by Scotland and its struggle for independence, the title refers to an archaic Scottish battle inspection during which clan chieftains surveyed their group's weapons to ensure they were combat ready. A mindset of reflective preparation threads throughout the record, manifested in forms both naked and noisy, ancient and anguished.

Opening with an aching solo vocal rendition of the British folk standard “The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face),” the album then surges into the Cindytalk classic, “A Song Of Changes,” sparkling and spiraling in strange waves of sorrow and joy. From there the mood fragments, tracing asymmetrical paths of feverish dirge, pensive spirituals, noir abstraction, spoken word (landmark Glaswegian writer Alasdair Gray guests on “Wheesht”), bagpipe drone, and apocalyptic post-punk. Given its aggressive eclecticism, it's not surprising that Cinder describes the creation of Wappinschaw as a “precarious” process, composed from “scraps” with abruptly shifting personnel – a situation only compounded by the impending dissolution of their label at the time, Midnight Music.

With his debut release for Peckham club and label institution Rhythm Section International, Hackney-raised Jerome Thomas is declaring the dawning of a new age for British soul music.

Jerome’s school was a home filled with non-stop music; whether that was bootleg CDs of Rare Groove from East London’s Sunday markets to late 90s R&B on The Box or family favourites; Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Al Green, Chico DeBarge, Jill Scott. He learnt his prodigious vocal craft of ad-libs and harmonies by listening to Brandy’s ‘98 LP ‘Never Say Never’ on repeat.

Working with a live 6 piece band of assorted ages and musical backgrounds from rock to classical jazz, Jerome’s sound is a 180 degree turn from the direction of travel of UK R&B which has trended towards producers tracks made inside the computer. Jerome composes the pieces, then allows space for interaction with his long term musical collaborators. The ‘organic decisions’ open up the scope of his music as they jam and record. The result is a sound that could been made in the 70s, the 90s or the 00s. He’s the new blood of the sophisticated British sound that traces back to artists like Mica Paris, Soul II Soul and Omar.

For Jerome, music has literally been a life saving vessel for self expression. Like 1% of the population, he has a stutter, which disrupts the fluent flow of his speech. The stutter disappears when he sings, freeing his voice as it’s transformed into an instrument. As an introverted, intuitive Pisces, the songwriting process lets him explore and express his internal cosmos; “a lot of my songs are like diary entries addressed to people I haven’t been able to talk to or speaking about desires I am too embarrassed to talk about”. Jerome describes his sound using the acronym FOE, standing for “Freedom of Expression” and “Fusion Of Everything”. His music is a space for him to dissolve boundaries and binaries.

“As soul beings we are all a mixture of masculine and feminine; a mixture of our Mum and our Dad”. His fine falsetto explores a register that can read as masculine or feminine. The romantic story that runs across the two vinyl sides of “That Secret Sauce” is told without specifying a gender point of view. As Jerome says “we all experience the same thing with romantic situations, so I didn’t want to pin it to one side”. Like many of the great soul records, a close listen to “That Secret Sauce” reveals its romantic narrative; from first meeting to sexual infatuation to the dissolution of the affair, the breaking up and the moving forward - keeping your energy clear. It’s a tale as old as time, retold.

DEATH, the heavy metal institution founded, realized, and helmed by legendary guitarist Chuck Schuldiner, released its final studio album The Sound of Perseverance (’98) to massive worldwide critical acclaim. The Sound of Perseverance is the masterstroke of one of metal’s true pioneers and innovators, and indeed worthy of the worship, adoration, and accolades that announced its original release (’98). The swansong of the metal legends, finally available once again in a gatefold double LP.

DEATH, the heavy metal institution founded, realized, and helmed by legendary guitarist Chuck Schuldiner, released the Individual Thought Patterns album (the follow-up to their watershed Human release) in 1993. Expectations were high following Human, but Schuldiner proved once again that he could rise to any occasion. Individual Thought Patterns further honed the forward-thinking and progressive direction birthed with Human, and included “The Philosopher”; arguably the best song to ever come from the world of extreme metal and to this date the most widely-recognized.

DEATH, the heavy metal institution founded, realized, and helmed by legendary guitarist Chuck Schuldiner, released the Individual Thought Patterns album (the follow-up to their watershed Human release) in 1993. Expectations were high following Human, but Schuldiner proved once again that he could rise to any occasion. Individual Thought Patterns further honed the forward-thinking and progressive direction birthed with Human, and included “The Philosopher”; arguably the best song to ever come from the world of extreme metal and to this date the most widely-recognized

Robert Schwarz’s background lies in both architecture and computer music. Across a handful of labels, he’s presented field recordings and experimental works, and he’s participated in exhibitions with some of Europe’s most prominent institutions for adventurous art practices. He is also the co-founder and curator of the Viennese festival ”PARKEN; Or, Live in the Park”, which aims to mediate experimental forms of music in public spaces and co-author of the works ”Los Bar”, ”Strookoffer” and ”Lax Bar”, a series of artist run spaces in Los Angeles, Brussels and Vienna.

Recently he presented a row of debut releases with new side projects like She Was A Visitor, Privat and Ausgsburger Messer.

In Post-Heretic Dracula X Chronicles II the Dracula figure functions as a part fictive and part autobiographical metaphor. Dracula mirrors certain systematic (therefore also internal) conditionings and attributes in its whole ambivalent fluctuations. This character represents the complex relationships of a loving/living person in a neo-liberal capitalist system while oscillating between melancholia & rage, facing the preservation or loss of his love and standing in an alienated position towards the ruling order. The eleven featured compositions and their respective song names (both of them are riddled with references) playfully touch on conflicts between love, life and system-critique, without being too upfront about the subject-matter.

Nicola Kazimir (*28.05.1990 in Zürich, Schweiz)

A DJ, producer, musician, artist, space-owner, record label owner and party organizer, Nicola Kazimir works freely across platforms and communities. For Kazimir, these numerous positions are not static, and they can actfluidly and reciprocally as a whole, or as separate entities. His artistic and acoustic productions are mostly based on topics that include the institutionalization of techno, copyright, dividualism and the human perception of repetitive rhythm patterns mixed with aesthetic codes of b-movie horror movies or occultism. He is one of the founders and still part of the labels Les Points/ Gentrified Underground / Infoline and the offspace Mikro Zürich. Other projects include a supporting role in the organization of Zentralwäscherei Zürich and being part of the Clubbüro-team at Rote Fabrik.

The frontwoman of Sugarland, responsible for 30 million records sold, Jennifer has been a country radio staple for over 20 years. She is also an actress having been cast in HBO's The Righteous Gemstones and the 2019 Focus Features film release of the Harriet Tubman Biopic. Jennifer also debuted on Broadway in 2015 as Roxy Hart in the Tony Award winning and record-breaking musical Chicago and she is currently a judge on the TBS reality talent competition Go Big. With multiple Grammys to her credit as well as ACM and CMA awards, she is a music industry institution but what this particular release will prove is her musical proclivities and skills are far wider and more diverse then perhaps previously thought. Jennifer is in fact a brilliant interpreter of songs.

Chart-breaking German folk rock institution SUBWAY TO SALLY have carved a unique live experience in stone with their upcoming release, Eisheilige Nacht: Back To Lindenpark, out on BluRay/DVD/CD on June 18, 2021 via Napalm Records. Since their foundation in the early ‘90s, SUBWAY TO SALLY have established themselves at the top of the scene. Having released thirteen studio records so far, the seven-piece featuring the remarkable Eric Fish on vocal duties never fails in surprising their devotees with an ingenious symbiosis of folk, heavy metal and rock. In the course of time, it became a tradition to celebrate every year with numerous fans and a final live show on December 30. What started as Eisheilige Nacht - with sold out solo-gigs in the band's hometown of Potsdam at the venue Lindenpark - turned into a whole annual festival tour shortly after, where top-notch bands heeded the call to join SUBWAY TO SALLY for some magical evenings. Due to the pandemic, 2020’s edition couldn’t take place in its usual form. As a result, the German folk rock unit decided to offer an unforgettable lockdown live event which they hope will be a unique way to fill the gap until they return to the stage. SUBWAY TO SALLY returned to Lindenpark and - supported by many great artists like Chris Harms (Lord Of The Lost), Joachim Witt, Feuerschwanz, Schandmaul, Saltatio Mortis, Major Voice and Patty Gurdy - created an extraordinary live experience. In an intimate setting, the recording starts with “Messias” and “Königin der Käfer” from the band’s latest chart-breaking full-length, Hey! (DE #5). SUBWAY TO SALLY then continue to not only travel through their own discography with songs like eerie “Unsterblich”, animated “Tanz auf dem Vulkan” and live-sensation “Grausame Schwester”, but also present a bunch of enchanting features as well: Don’t miss when highly talented Birgit Muggenthaler-Schmack and Saskia Forkert (Schandmaul) join SUBWAY TO SALLY for Schandmaul’s “Dein Anblick” and a premier version of “Kleid aus Rosen”, or when the band sets the exceptional stage on fire for an explosive performance with Saltatio Mortis on their hit “Sie Tanzt allein” - just to name a selection.

Manni Dee returns to Perc Trax for the release of 'A Low Level Love', his second full album following on from 'The Residue' released in 2018 by Berlin techno institution Tresor. Manni opened his Perc Trax account back in 2017 with his 'Throbs Of Discontent' 12" which featured his breakout hit 'London Isn't England' and since then he's become Perc Trax regular releasing his recent 'Everyone's Replaceable Now' 12" plus his 'Gulabi Gang' contribution to first of the 'Forever' various artists series. During this time Manni has gone from a cult UK favourite to being internationally recognised, performing all around the world.

On 'A Low Level Love' Manni expands on both his previous album and his recent run of Perc Trax releases, mixing his trademark club techno rhythms with broken beat and non-dance floor outings. 'No More Heroes' and 'You Don't Always Get What You Want' see Manni at his most melodic and introspective, whilst the storm of kick drums on 'Closer' shows a new intensity and aggression to Manni's music even when compared to the heaviest of his previous releases.

Guest slots and collaborations can often detract from the artistic vision of an album, but Manni chooses his co-conspirators well, with vocalist Sylph adding a human element to album opener 'Persist & Change' and London acid techno legend Chris Liberator providing both vocals and some of the inspiration for club hit in waiting 'London In My System'.

'A Low Level Love' will be released by Perc Trax on 17th June on 2 x 12" vinyl, CD and digital. The album was mastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis, London. The front cover photography was taken by Bruna Kazinoti and design was handled by Adult Art Club.

Newly awarded Dub Artist of the Year 2020 by the specialized website Reggae.fr, Manudigital presents the second volume of his famous "Digital Kingston Session" on vinyl, three years after the release of volume 1 in 2018! These videos filmed in the streets of Kingston, in which the producer invites Jamaican singers from the golden age of digital Reggae to perform their classics in one take on riddims that he plays with the legendary Casio MT40 or "Sleng Teng Keyboard ”, have become a real institution! With more than 100,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, Manudigital continues to bring together an ever larger and more international audience.

In this volume 2 of the “Digital Kingston Session”, Manudigital gather a five-star cast with the legendary Capleton, the essential Junior Cat and more underground but no less talented artists such as Devon Morgan, Peter Metro, Jigsy King or Bunny General. As on the first volume, two bonus sessions recorded outside Jamaica complete the tracklisting: one in Brooklyn with Red Fox, the most New Yorker of Jamaican deejays, and the other in Paris with the spectacular English MC Deemas J, who has been accompanying Manudigital on stage since 2018.

A second volume of the "Digital Kingston Session" on vinyl which should delight the public, while waiting to get back to live music and sound systems!

Four Flies is proud and excited to present the first full-album release of the long-forgotten soundtrack composed by Armando Trovajoli for Piero Vivarelli's 1964 movie Il Vuoto.

Rightly considered by many to be a key figure, if not the key figure, in the history of Italian jazz, Trovajoli was responsible for fostering an appreciation and understanding of jazz among the generation of music listeners and musicians raised under Mussolini and Fascist nationalism. His outstanding work as a pianist, composer and conductor contributed immensely to the popularization of the genre among the general public and to the reduction of institutional bias against it.

The collaboration between Trovajoli and Vivarelli did not happen by chance. The latter, now regarded as one of Italy's "kings of the B's" for his work in the 'exotic-erotic' genre (Il dio serpente, Codice d'amore orientale, etc.), was a great music expert, a skilled talent scout for the Italian music industry, and a true lover of jazz.

Most of Trovajoli's score for Il vuoto has a refined smoothness that is clearly reminiscent of cool jazz – many tracks on the soundtrack are performed by a sextet featuring Trovajoli himself on piano, Carlo Zoffoli on vibraphone, Gino Marinacci on baritone sax and flute, Enzo Grillini on electric guitar, Berto Pisano on double bass, and Sergio Conti on drums and percussion. At the same time, Trovajoli explores other jazz styles or sub-styles in faster, more rhythm-oriented tracks influenced by bossa nova, samba, and even rock'n'roll, where instruments like drums and percussion, electric guitar, or flute take center stage.

This stylistic variety demonstrates both the maestro's versatility as a composer and the fine skills of the musicians who performed on the soundtrack. Like Trovajoli, they were all pioneers of Italian jazz and played in Italy's very first 'institutional' jazz orchestra: the Orchestra di Musica Leggera of the RAI (the Italian public broadcasting company), formed under Trovajoli's leadership in 1956 and credited as "his orchestra" in public performances and in the album The Beat Generation (RCA Italiana, 1960).

By making available for the first time ever almost all of the music recorded by Trovajoli for Il vuoto, this LP fills an important gap in the maestro's discography. Most importantly, it offers further insight not only into the history of Italian jazz, but also into the penetration of the genre into Italian film music, which was possible thanks to Trovajoli's mastery as a composer and to the virtuosity of the pioneering musicians who performed in his orchestra.

2x Grammy nominated band Gojira have announced details of their long-awaited new album, FORTITUDE, which will be released April 30th via Roadrunner Records and have released the forthcoming album’s first single, “Born For One Thing”. FORTITUDE stands is Gojira’s first album in five years and the follow-up to 2016’s Grammy nominated LP MAGMA.

Recorded and Produced by Joe Duplantier at Silver Cord Studio - Gojira’s Ridgewood, Queens, headquarters – and mixed by Andy Wallace (Nirvana, Rage Against The Machine), FORTITUDE is a collection of songs urging humanity to imagine a new world—and then make it happen. The band initially laid the foundation for FORTITUDE last year with the surprise release of the 2020 single “Another World.” NPR hailed the track as “an apocalyptic banger,” while STEREOGUM declared, “Gojira are one of this century’s most important underground metal institutions.” Voted by fans as the #1 release on REVOLVER’s “5 Most Anticipated Albums of 2021,” FORTITUDE continues Gojira’s career-long tradition of harnessing their music as a vehicle for environmental activism with songs like “Amazonia” and “The Chant” not only surveying critical cases, but also catalyzing listeners to take action.

On 2016’s MAGMA, Gojira found strength—and crossover success—through a singular commitment to self-reflection. The intensely personal record, penned in memory of the Duplantier brothers' late mother, was a painful significant turning point for the French group. The album earned the band two GRAMMY nominations - ‘Best Metal Performance’ and ‘Best Rock Album,’ and upon release, MAGMA took the #1 spot on BILLBOARD’s ‘Hard Rock Albums’ chart, a first for a French band. MAGMA also asserted itself as one of the most acclaimed albums of 2016, earning METAL HAMMER’s coveted “Album of the Year” title while also landing on ROLLING STONE’s “Top 20 Metal Albums of 2016,”

The Peterson Brothers - keyboard player Ricky, bass player Billy, drummer / guitar player Paul and their nephew, saxophonist Jason - are true
brothers in arms, Minneapolis institutions, members and survivors of that city’s musical revolution. They lay the music out like an
uptown groove buffet.
You don’t need to be smart to feel the beat of the heart; you don’t need to play dumb to feel the beat of the drum. This is music everybody can get with.
Natural talent by the yard and years of playing with the some of the best of the best - from Prince to Bonnie Raitt, Eddie Harris to Mose Allison, Dave Sanborn to Boz Scaggs, Fleetwood Mac to Bob Dylan, and that barely scratches the surface - make this tribute to a legendary musical family a back-slapping, finger-popping good time.
The fact that it took a couple of decades to get these world travellers together into the same room for a couple of days only proves that when the time is right the real deal is on the table. Praise the lord and pass the ammunition, the Peterson Brothers are in town!

With a history 50+ years in the making, Tower of Power has been a funk
institution since 1968, knocking out hits like “What is Hip,” “So Very Hard
to Go,” “This Time It’s Real” and “You’re Still a Young Man” while lending
their soulful sound to collaborations with Santana, the Grateful Dead, Elton
John, Huey Lewis, Justin Timberlake and everyone in-between.
50 Years of Funk & Soul - Live at the Fox Theater captures their storied career
with no-holds-barred victory lap concerts in Oakland, CA, performing their full
spectrum of life-affirming funk and soul hits to sold out audiences in 2018.
Available as a 3-LP set, 2-CD/1-DVD package, standalone DVD and digital audio configuration, these historic performances include alumni special guests
Chester Thompson, Lenny Pickett, Francis ‘Rocco’ Prestia, Bruce Conte and Ray
Greene. PBS will celebrate the 50th anniversary with a 60 minute airing of the
performance beginning February 27.

Back in 2019, Ravioli Me Away debuted their hyper-surreal operatic work 'The View From Behind The Futuristic Rose Tellis' across the UK, including two sold-out shows in London. Difficult to contain, and wound-up with a truant's sense of narrative, it presented a wondrous cacophony of erupting media and performances patched together with wit and existential alarm. A suite of songs circling themes of aspiration and the everyday run through the opera, and these were released in parallel by Wysing Polyphonic, one of the commissioning institutions. A selection of these songs were then reinterpreted and reshaped into forms that befit a club setting, debuting at Supernormal festival in the same year. Entitled 'Naughty Cool,' Alter now presents these collective club reworkings by HMS RMA for the first time on vinyl and digital formats. Uplifting and delightfully crooked throughout, the tracks are shuffled together and stitched as a 'DJ mix.' In six segments of vocal-led missives and soft drops, the sunniest hooks of early Chicago house are recalled, all cross-pollinated with the collective rhythms and tones of the UK's rave subconscious. A freeform, DIY rowdiness lurks around every corner, equally evoking punk's flings with disco. The familiar sound and presence of Ravioli Me Away's Alice Theobald, Rosie Ridgway, and Sian Dorrer aren't lost in the edits and adaptations, and they come backed-up with Tom Hirst (Design A Wave), opera singer and artist Siobhan Mooney, and Dean Rodney Jnr (The Fish Police), all of whom took part in the original opera itself. "Naughty Cool" was engineered by John Hannon at No Recording Studios and mixed and mastered by Amir Shoat in London. This record is dedicated to the memory of Donna Lynas.

The collaborative debut of American minimal techno pioneer Troy Pierce and Colombian audiovisual artist Natalia Escobar aka Poison Arrow was conceived in reverse: first they created a collection of shadowy surrealist videos, then wrote music inspired by them. This inverted process proved remarkably fruitful. Shatter is a simmering, slow-burn noir odyssey inspired by the Greek myth of Echo and Narcissus, traversing subtle shades of sleepwalker dub, metallic lament, broken beats, and erotic negative space. It's an effectively unsettling evocation of the legend's core theme: "There is nothing more complex than a shattered heart, or a heart that can't love." Considering their shared background trafficking in darkened dance floor modes, what's most striking about Pierce with Arrow's partnership is its rhythmic restraint. The album's 10 tracks seethe and shudder between glamor and gloom, with only occasional dread-steeped metronomes mapping the malaise to a grid. They speak of pursuing a "spatial approach" with this project, which manifests in the music's immersive design and patient execution, each mangled clang and rippling pool of bass allowed to reverberate its full flickering waveform. Guest appearances by austere techno producer Konrad Black ("Obsidian Glass") and drum n bass institution dBridge ("It's A Love Story, After All") flow seamlessly into the whole, subtle sculptural accents on a dimly lit descent through purgatories of longing and lust. But the shadows recede for the record's closing cut, "Narcissus," which swells elegiacally in a mass of devotional drones over a muted heartbeat, like Narcissus gazing upon his reflection in holy awe: elusive true beauty, finally beheld, by itself.

Next cut to "Institutionalized Racism" with Triston Palma on the vocals and a different dub. Produced by Ossie Thomas

Swing From The Sean DeLear is the new four song 12-inch by Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds on In The Red Records. It celebrates a dreamlike bridge between life and memory. Recorded and mixed with Jim Waters (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Sonic Youth, etc.) at Waterworks Recording in Tucson AZ, the track “Sean DeLear” is a tribute to the late, magical, and ubiquitous Los Angeles underground institution named Sean DeLear. This rocking song uses the metaphor of those passed on as swinging from a chandelier, a festive image everyone hopes is true! Side two of this 12-inch is a fourteen-minute psych, Chicano-groove titled “He Walked In.” The text is based on a visceral fever dream Kid had about his friend and Gun Club bandmate Jeffrey Lee Pierce, who passed away in 1996. Leading the listener back to the theme of feelings sustained between life and memory, the song dreams on as the band spreads their monkey bird wings, featuring Mark Cis-neros on flute, and guest tambourine-queen Cesar Padilla—lost in music but found in sound. In such uncertain times, one thing is most certain—Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds will always bring the party...and the other world

In 2019, the power-acoustic musician Francisco Meirino presented A New Instability a commission for the venerable Ina-GRM in paris. Of course, this institution is the pre-eminent center for the research and study of electro-acoustic music dating back to founding of Groupe de Recherches Musicales in 1958 by Pierre Schaeffer. To this day, Ina-GRM continues to be at the vangarde of the electro-acoustic composition, and it is quite an accomplishment and very appropriate for Meirino to receive such a commission.

This recording for A New Instability condenses the 32-channel original piece down to a still very active stereo version. here, Meirino continues to amplify and refine his compositions that walk a fine tightrope between raw expressivity of brutalist noise and conceptual rigor of more academic pursuits. Such a work ranks him in with the likes of Zbigniew Karkowski, Dave Phillips, Puce Mary, and Illusion Of Safety.

Field recordings from a kendo dojo in his hometown of Lausanne, Switzerland cast a pugilistic, combative arch to these recordings which snap, burst, explode, and erupt with utterances of men and women engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Searing frequencies build, swarm, and amass out of these episodes rise to psychologically tense crescendo that rupture at their heights, quickly turning attention towards a violence that originates from within. It is as if the objective observations of those martial arts recordings are sublimated within a subjective experience of psychic unease, disquiet, and imbalance.

A New Instability is another magnificent chapter in the ongoing body of work for this accomplished composer of electro-acoustic noise.

The Begotten is the brainchild of Jürgen De Blonde (Köhn/de portables) and Brecht Ameel (Razen), who initially performed a number of shows and released a CS under the moniker 'Kohier' - gleefully referencing the absurdity of Belgian tax systems and institutions.

On their debut LP "Temidden Laaghangende Wolken" they are joined by percussionist and improv-veteran Dirk Wachtelaer (Pablo's Eye/Vanishing Pictures), who locked with De Blonde and Ameel's post-reality continuum during a recording session at Les Ateliers Claus in Brussels. In this new trio format, The Begotten weaves a stripped-down set of after-hours, trancey observations on keys, baritone guitar and drums. Neon-lit bars are named Le Kheops or 60 Moons, streets are soaked in sheets of rain, people are staring at tax sheets and comets pass by unnoticed. Dub with tears; "Temidden Laaghangende Wolken" is the perfect backdrop of a strongly medicated game of Manillen during a 'Derrick' rerun.

Fabrizio Maurizi makes his debut on Infuse this October as he delivers his latest EP ‘Jumping’, backed by a remix from Pierre Codarin.

A staple within the Italian house and techno scene for over a decade, Bologna’s Fabrizio Maurizi is a producer and DJ now known across the globe for his seamless blend of the two styles across his productions and DJ sets. One half of the duo Bassa Clan, with material via their self-titled imprint, and a member of the Bolo Represent collective, Maurizi’s recent releases include EPs via labels such Bodyparts, Memoria, Want?, Re.face, whilst playing sets worldwide for renowned institutions such as fabric, Robert Johnson, Womb and Cocoricò. Next up, October signals the arrival of a new name to his catalogue as he heads to FUSE sister imprint Infuse to deliver three fresh productions in the form of his ‘Jumping’ EP – accompanied by bubbling UK talent Pierre Codarin on remix duties.

The slick and paired back title track ‘Jumping’ opens proceedings as Maurizi fuses minimal soundscapes with more jazz-influenced notes and tones, whilst Pierre Codarin’s remix ups the energy levels as he introduces metallic drum licks, spiralling electronics and a snaking bassline to the mix. On the flip, ‘Night and Day’ harnesses a classy blend of dubby chords, slinking hats and echoed vocals, before closing the package via the off-kilter rhythms and loose, glitch-driven drums of hypnotic after-hours cut ‘Caravel’.

Cormac is pleased to announce the second release on his new record label Polari, the label he curates and through which he shares music from artists that he champions in his muchrevered DJ sets.
The name “Polari” references the slang used by the gay subculture in the 19th century.
The sophomore release is from Philadelphia based duo Zillas on Acid.
2019 was the year Zillas made the transition from DJs to break-out producers. Having honed their DJ skills at Philadelphia’s revered MAKING TIME clubbing institution, Thomas Roland and James Weissinger have released two EPs on Optimo Music and also on Ivan Smagghe’s Les Disques de la Mort in the past 12 months.
Cormac has also opted to showcase different LGBTQI+ visual artists' work for the sleeve art.
Artwork on this release is from SHREK 666; an Artist, Performer, Maker & DJ also known as Sorcha Clelland. Creator of Ministry of Pound, a Glasgow based Fetish Party & Mag and resident performer at Scotland’s most loved Queer party Shoot Your Shot. Combining
monstrosity, trans*ness & hypersexuality through the embodiment of an ogre creating new queer worlds.

Legowelt has been a key figure in the Dutch electronic music scene since the early nineties, steadily relea­sing timeless music that merges the pioneering sounds of Detroit and Chicago with idiosyncratic sci-fi fascinations. "Unconditional Contours" captures Legowelt's stint at the Swiss Museum for Electronic Music Instruments (SMEM), after he was invited to be the first artist in residence at the institution's "Playroom" project.

Legowelt visited SMEM in Fribourg, Switzerland, in early 2019 to explore the collection and record music. Possessing an extensive collection of synthesizers himself, he used hand-picked synthesizers from the museum's archive: the rare Farfisa Synthorchestra, the EVS-1 Evolution, the "shittiest rompler ever made", amongst many others. The 10-track album "Unconditional Contours" is both a probe into the vast collection of SMEM, and a display of Legowelt's well established composi­tional qualities. Leaving ample space for new sounds to unfold, Legowelt invokes gentle trips, brooding excursions, bleep heavy soundscapes, and reimagined elements of dance music classicism.

SMEM and -OUS are launching the "smem+ous" series to document the "Playroom" residencies. A limited edition of this album was already sent out to early supporters of the "Playroom". Founded in 2016 and based on a collection of more than 5000 synthesizers, organs, drum machines and effects that had been collected over a 35 year period by Klemens Niklaus Trenkle, SMEM offers residencies, studio sessions, talks and workshops.

"I am sitting in a garden, I haven't left the property in weeks, someone is dropping off food once a week. I haven't seen a human being in ages, I feel like a reverse Schroedinger cat - do I exist when nobody sees me? I must be somewhere in France but I don't remember. I have lost my consciousness again. When I wake up I hear a broken record looping somewhere in the mansion. A washed-out opera. Behind the trees I see the dilapidated hermaphrodite sculpture in a field of verdant nettles and fern. I hear gunshots far afield, aeroplanes in the sky, sirens on the main road.
When unconscious I dreamt of sitting on the Concorde observing the scarab blue ocean and iridescent clouds from above, an erstwhile receding memory. Sometimes I hear the organ of the nearby Renaissance Cathedral merging with the Russian Church bells.
I am hallucinating again. Someone's humming in the kitchen? Singing? A Radio? I overhear two young women talking about art galleries in the neighbour's garden. Bees attack, again…..again and again. The hairspray finally intoxicates them. An amphoric japanese voice is whispering in my head saying I will die soon. Someone (something?) bangs on the vases. The fountain's water turns dark red.
Fleur calls and says mum died. The funeral will be televised on tuesday. We opt for the synthetic choir for the service. The call is suddenly interrupted. Mold is slowly taking over the house.
I go back inside."

Une Fille Pétrifiée is the debut album of new Black To Comm related entity Mouchoir Ètanche (after one recent 12" on Richter's own Dekorder label). Combining real and fake acoustic instrumentation, sampling, field recordings and excessive yet inaudible post production this is another sublime and ethereal statement. Influences are ranging from (French) Classical & Opera to the anecdotical compositions of Luc Ferrari, Chinese Opera, Chanson, Sacred Music / Church Music, JG Ballard and Surrealism.

Marc Richter records as Black To Comm for Thrill Jockey, Type and Dekorder and as Jemh Circs for his own Cellule 75 imprint. He also produces soundtracks and acousmatic multichannel installations for institutions such as INA GRM Paris, ZKM Karlsruhe and Kunstverein Hamburg.

It was a busy 2019 for Asian Dub Foundation with the long-awaited reissue of their Mercury Prize-nominated 1998 classic Rafi’s Revenge. The reissue garnered ecstatic reviews, all of which agreed that the sound and the message that ADF threw down in 1998 is as relevant now as it was then-perhaps even more so. So it’s timely that in 2020 the band are set to release their 9th album “Access Denied” which finds them as uncompromising as ever. The album showcases ADF in full spectrum mode from the tough Jungle Punk sound of “Stealing The Future” and “Mind-lock” through to the orchestral meditation of “Realignment” and the reggae lament of the title track.

With guestspots from Greta Thunberg, incendiary Palestinian shamstep warriors 47 Soul, Chilean revolt’s rap main figure Ana Tijoux and radical UK comedian Stewart Lee, Asian Dub Foundation continue their sonic opposition to the powers that be and “Access Denied” kicks harder and higher than ever.

Asian Dub Foundation are a genre unto themselves. Their unique combination of tough jungle rhythms, dub bass lines and wild guitar overlaid by references to their South Asian roots and militant high-speed rap has established them as one of the best live bands in the world. During their long and productive career Asian Dub Foundation have shared the stage with the likes of Rage Against The Machine, the Beastie Boys and Primal Scream also collaborating on record with the likes of Radiohead, Sinead O’ Connor, Iggy Pop and Chuck D.
The story began in the early 90’s when ADF formed from a music workshop in East London at the institution which is their spiritual home, Community Music. Their unique beginnings in a music workshop in east London marked out both their sound and their wider educational aspirations, as showed by their early involvements with Roma Youth in Budapest, hooking up with the leg-endary Afro Reggae in the favelas of Rio, and setting up their own education organisation ADF Education (ADFED), not to mention their campaigns on behalf of those suffering miscarriages of justice. Building a solid live reputation in the mid-90’s, particularly in France, they eventually es-tablished themselves as an important worldwide force and particularly as an explosive alterna-tive to the backward-looking obsession with Britpop in the UK.
In addition to their blistering live reputation ADF were one of the first bands to experiment with the now more commonplace live film re-score, beginning with their rapturously-received interpre-tation of the French classic La Haine back in in 2001. They’ve continued to perform said project or nearly two decades, taking in David Bowie’s Meltdown at London’s South Bank and a contro-versial show at the Broadwater Farm Estate, scene of the events that led to the London Riots of 2011.They’ve also rescored George Lucas’ debut THX 1138 (with encouragement from Mr. Lu-cas himself) and they’ve recently revived their explosive live interpretation to the continually rele-vant Battle of Algiers at the Museum of Immigration in Paris.

ALTER is proud to present ‘Tendrils’, the first LP release from London based artist & musician Malvern Brume. After gathering some hushed praise from the UK underground for a couple of excellent cassette releases and strong local live performances, ‘Tendrils’ is the first definitive document of the Malvern Brume sound world. His instrumentation and sound sources would be considered familiar staples in the world of “experimental” music, but Salter does an admirable job of making them his own. Comprised of 8 pieces, this is electronic music at its core but a kind that sounds as if it’s being played through fog. Like spores growing on a damp surface. Densely composed and thick with an almost asphyxiating atmosphere - even during the record’s more minimal moments - track titles like ‘Caught In The Exhaust Trails’ and ‘Sunk Into Plastics’ only heighten the tone further.

Salter was originally born in the countryside and since relocated to London, a place he finds “over stimulating in every sense”. Much of ‘Tendrils’ could be taken as a response to the city and a means of equating the two. Camberwell is listed as the location for composition, but field recordings are attributed to rural landmarks. The Rollright Stones on the Oxfordshire / Warwickshire border and Seven Sisters Cliffs by the English Channel are two in case, but despite their picturesque origins Salter renders them into abstract clatter. As if dubbed from the private tape archive of an old eccentric. In addition, synthesised electronic tones hum and buzz, occasionally giving away to strange, slurring sequences that sound like lost transmissions from the radiophonic workshop. Despite the nod to this electronic music institution, it’s lacking the sincere level of esteem that can turn one into a heritage act. There is a strangeness and distant other worldliness to the music that feels unselfconscious and keeps Malvern Brume from being easy to define by contemporary terms.

Salter says the album is defined by movement and the environments that have inspired him over the years. In his own words, “each of these tracks is inspired by a journey or moving through a space, not in a wishy-washy cosmic sense but more as a practical A to B.” With that in mind, ‘Tendrils’ is perfect music for solitary inner-city marshland walks and urban bike rides to forgotten local suburbs.

Circoloco resident Luca Cazal teams up with Italian talent Andrea Fiorito as the pair deliver their ‘What Is Music’ EP on Infuse this June, backed by a remix from Mariano Mateljan.

An Ibiza mainstay, with regular appearances at DC-10 for Paradise and his long-standing global Circoloco residency, See Double boss Luca Cazal has established himself as a quality and consistent force within the minimal house scene and beyond. An avid digger with an innate ability within the studio, Cazal’s career has also welcomed sets at internationally renowned institutions including fabric and Club der Vissionare, with late June now welcoming a debut appearance on Infuse alongside fellow Italian Andrea Fiorito. An artist driven by idealism, with a sound palette that takes in influences and productions from experimental techno through to lighter more delicate and orchestral sonics, Bari-based Fiorito has himself served up material via the likes of Housewax, Broquade, Get Physical and Cynosure to date, and here we see the two talents combine for the very first time to offer up ‘What Is Music’, accompanied by Infuse talent Mariano Mateljan on remix duties.

A-side opener ‘Tornado Girl’ is a groove-fulled rolling production armed with slinking hats, evolving basslines and warping lead synths, whilst on the flip, title cut ‘What Is Music’ delves deeper into darker, more paired back afterhours aesthetics with slinking organic percussion and sci-fi electronics throughout. To close, Croatian favourite Mateljan’s lively interpretation welcomes sharp kicks, distorted vocal hooks and haunting melodies, punctuating the package in impressive fashion.

When the world slipped into madness last month, the ESP Institute put most releases on the back-burner to await brighter days, but then we thought again; why not approach these odd circumstances the way we do most realities, positively and head-on? We’re committed to a community that builds new worlds — this is fundamental to our creative and spiritual relationship with Osaka-born, cosmos-straggling artist, Ground — and while temporarily we can’t physically congregate to uplift each other, its our responsibility as an institution to maintain a platform for prolific creative pioneers, our cherished cartographers of cognitive escape. 'Wakusei' is wonderfully confusing and disorienting music, a follow-up EP to 2018’s critically acclaimed album 'Sunizm', not created specifically for life under lockdown, but nonetheless aptly suited to help release angst, guide meditation, and assist in making this moment in history more interesting if not transcendental. Whereas 'Sunizm' relied on field recordings gathered from rainforests, percussions learned from imaginary ancient civilizations, and the somehow organic freneticism of a mission control meltdown, the aesthetic of 'Wakusei' reduces this abstract instrumentation one step further to a more base-level array of gurgling synth scraps, accelerating engine friction and static-bound phonetic mistakes, all scrubbed into dust by a Brillo pad of white noise. The cliché of “great art is born out of hard times” is not lost upon us — of course the world will look back to this turmoil and its residual contributions to culture — but we see today's art as an immediate coping mechanism, and artists like Ground helping to unlock and navigate internal utopias. We’re already indoors, let’s delve inside.

Self proclaimed "DJ from the sticks in Ireland", Ceili breathes diabolical energy to unforgiving imprint, Techno Is The Devil's Music. Following his "Rough n Ready" release on Obscuur, and a heap of killer sets - many at Techno institution, Jaded - Ceili's discerning ear, honed skills and sense of self shine through in this release. TITDM02 blends hardcore club vibes with melodic, euphoric elements for a sound that's heavy-hitting, yet fresh and exciting.

TITDM002 drops March 13th, via Techno Is The Devil's Music. Frantic opener, "Stern Morning Shake", is a transcendental thumper - booting off hard with an ethereal overlay, note Ceili's tempting dancers into a trance whirlpool. "Straight Off The Plane" offers tripped out acid lines upon ominous rolling thunder. On the flip, "2000 and Ded" goes far beyond the rabbit hole. Rounding out the EP, "Time Is No More" is hard hitting, with little room for respite despite Ceili's mesmerising, robotic interludes. Strobes, dark corners, incentive to dance - TITDM02 is for the ravers.

The first Be With foray into the archives of revered German library institution Selected Sound is one of our favourites on the label - the super in-demand Japan from Victor Cavini, originally released in 1983.

Rare and sought-after for many years now, this is one of those cult library LPs that never turn up. With Daibutsu the giant Buddha of Kamakura’s presence gracing the hefty front cover, this is a record bursting with dope samples for adventurous producers: it’s koto-funk madness!

Victor Cavini was the library music pseudonym of prolific German composer and musician Gerhard Trede. He was known for exploring instruments and styles from around the world (he played over 50 different instruments himself) and Japan is
his collection of 14 musical sketches painted with traditional Japanese wind and string instruments. These are the sounds of traditional Japanese folk music re-interpreted through Western ears, with the occassional contemporary twist. Contemporary for 1983, of course.

These “Pictures of Japan” are hypnotic, sometimes frantic, but always beautiful. The first twelve tracks offer airy explorations of koto and flute, with other strings and percussion being added and then given their own space. Indeed “Pictures of Japan XII” is just drums.

And then “Pictures of Japan XIII” seems to come out of nowhere. But the subtle sleaze of its full band sound still doesn’t quite prepare you for the towering climax of “Pictures of Japan XIV”.

This is Japan’s undoubted standout piece, completely and wonderfully at odds with the rest of the album. It’s the reason this has become such a must-have record. It keeps the traditional Japanese instruments but combines them with shuffling funk breaks, electric bass high in the mix and a Godzilla-sized psychedelic fuzz guitar sound that might actually be a traditional reed flute pushed to its limits. Whatever it is, it sounds awesome.

Recalling both Rino de Filippi’s Oriente Oggi and Giancarlo Barigozzi’s Oriente, the track’s a real head-nod groove for b-boys and b-girls alike that sounds straight out of a late 70s Yakuza film. Indeed, if you were told The RZA or Onra had cooked this up in the lab this century, you’d be convinced. It’s crazy that this dates from 1983.

The audio for Japan has been sensitively remastered for vinyl by Be With regular Simon Francis to keep all the character of the original recordings. Richard Robinson has handled the careful restoration of the original Selected Sound sleeve. Essential.

For years, Rhythm Buro and Zadig have maintained a special relationship. The French DJ and producer (real name Sylvain Peltier,) became involved with the Ukrainian institution when he headlined their first party in Kyiv back in 2014. In the few years since, both Sylvain and Rhythm Buro have developed into strong international brands that have become well-known and trusted. They are thus ready to present another form of collaboration: Zadig's debut record on the Kyiv-based label. "Takara-machi" EP is the sixth release in Rhythm Buro's catalogue, following previous releases by Haze, Na Nich, Cyspe and a few VAs on the imprint.

RB006 is particularly notable for its sonic diversity. Zadig, often known for his uncompromising and hard-hitting techno ventures, explores a deeper musical side here, and delves into his wide range of influences and inspirations. A good example of this is found in the manga series "Amer Beton", with the excellent soundtrack by Plaid, hence the Japanese name for the record's title track. At least three of the six tracks on the record follow this influence precisely and are rather cinematic: these are A and B sides' closing tracks; "Shores of Sorrow" and "Kuro & Shiro". Both of which play to a certain dreamy ambient field. The title track on B2 exemplifies Zadig's passion towards an old-school 100 bpm-ish tempo.

And then there's the more dancey side of the record. The EP's opener, "No-face" on A1, and its following tune on A2, "What We Become" are both a clear take, albeit more modern, to classic Detroit techno. Rich with melodies and 909 patterns, both A1 and A2 are conscious in their reference to Detroit, and pay homage to the master minds that spawned the genre in their studios 30 years ago and started it all. The B-side's opening track is another dance floor friendly stomper, although in a different way: "A World of Children" may be best labelled as "slower-electro". Its synth-heavy, almost naive essence, describe its name perfectly.

Despite its aforementioned diversity of sound and tempos, Zadig's "Takara-machi" EP still possesses and maintains a unique commonality and voice across the spectrum. It is dreamy, it is soulful, it puts substance over form. In other words, it has something the vast majority of today's techno palette is missing. Rhythm Buro doesn't miss the mark in unearthing and releasing pure quality for those who know and care.

Hotly-tipped Glasgow duo Manakinz are next up on Jasper James’ budding imprint Mitchell Street Records with a vigorous three-track dispatch.

Behind the duo is Jasper’s father and house music legend, James ‘Harri’ Harrigan, and venerable selector Affi Koman. Both are steeped in Glasgow’s rich musical history, with Harri being one of the legendary faces behind Scottish institution Sub Club with its world-renowned flagship residency Subculture, and Affi Koman is known for his lauded Sunday Circus residency.

Established in late 2018, the duo’s productions have bagged support from a long list of respected artists, including Andrew Weatherall, The Black Madonna, Levon Vincent, Ashley Beadle and Bill Brewster.

“A week after I got these tracks, I dropped the A-side ‘Snakehips’ at a Boiler Room gig and the reaction was amazing. Approval doesn’t get much better than spinning it through a road test and I’m looking forward to kicking 2020 off with this killer EP. ” – Jasper James

The EP leads with ‘Snakehips’ a frisky peak-time brew loaded with propellant, tribalised drums and a soulful vocal cut set to stir. On the B side, ‘Yamaha Rumba’ runs with the headiness, amplifying the atmosphere with a maelstrom of synths and skittering keys, and it hits the spot with the release of a lustful, lascivious female vocal. ‘Partizan’ completes the package, giving listeners a robust, heavyweight club track.

Arandel's new opus, 'InBach', released 24th January 2020 by French label InFiné, pays a poetic, infinitely respectful and innovative homage to Bach's sacred workings.

Arandel was granted limitless access to the galerie of (sometime rare and ancient) instruments, as a well as a countless recordings of the prestigious Musée de la Musique in Paris with a view to sounddesign his brand new creation. He performed a few months after at Philharmonie Paris a hybrid live performance/DJ set 'Switched on Bach', named in acknowledgement to the legendary 1968 by American composer Wendy Carlos (Tron, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining).

From candles to LEDs, from DJ sets to museums, from historical instruments to machines, from Bach's themes that have entered the collective unconscious and inspired contemporary flesh and blood musicians… 'InBach' was a foregone conclusion.

In the immensity of Bach's oeuvre, in the company of his fellow wanderers, within the constraints of his-torical instruments, emboldened by the delightful, sometimes technically dangerous friction between acoustics and electronics: Without a net, Arandel walks a tightrope without a faux pas.

Vital Sales Points:

- Strong French environment including institutional support from Philharmonie / Musée de la Musique in Paris with a big shows' scheduled.
- A hybrid album with a mix of rare instrument sounds, synthesizers and innovative creative bias.

Visible Spectrum is the newly launched creative playground of Yuri Boselie, also known as Cinnaman. Since donning the Cinnaman alias nearly two decades ago, he’s become a well known figure of the Amsterdam nightlife scene with long running residencies at the city's most lauded clubbing institutions like Club 11, Trouw and most recently De School. Next to his DJ sets, he's made early moves in label curation with A&R work for Rush Hour and Kindred Spirits offshoot Nod Navigators, and with his own Beat Dimensions compilations in the late 00s. With Visible Spectrum — defined as the electromagnetic frequencies visible by the human eye — a new chapter is born. It is an outlet for electronic music in the widest sense. Each sleeve will have its own unique screen printed artwork by Marilyn Sonneveld.

The first EP comes from Mor Elian, the Berlin based artist and owner of the Fever AM label. Here she offers the loose and hypnotic rhythms of 'Clairvoyant Frog' which is deep and atmospheric, like some sort of primordial techno soup. 'Shoshana's Roses' then picks up the pace with layers of rumbling drums, wooden hits and snaking synths taking you into a steamy, humid jungle before closer 'Planet Kismet' is a much quicker and more urgent bit of enchanting break-beat techno with pummeling minimal drums and warped synths and perc getting you under their sci-fi spell. A fascinating first outing that sets a high standard from the off.

Gang Starr is undoubtedly one of the most revered, beloved and influential groups in Hip Hop. Over the course of their distinguished career, they became a cultural institution and a brand you could ultimately trust. With a handful of indelible classic albums on their resume, DJ Premier and Guru’s catalogue has not only persevered but mastered the test of time. Simply, Gang Starr did not follow trends, they created them.

Shasta Cults is the musical project of Canadian electronics technician Richard Smith. For almost two decades, Smith was the official Buchla & Associates go-to repair person for studios, collectors, and musicians around the world, having worked with artists like Aphex Twin, Suzanne Ciani, Mort Subotnick and institutions like NYU, The Library of Congress and Mills College in Oakland, Ca.

Recording demonstrations of the rare equipment that found its way on to his workbench is how Smith describes the origins of Shasta Cults. Although sounds have been trickling out for decades via Soundcloud and other outlets, it wasn’t until 2017 that Smith recorded his first album using one of these rare instruments – the Buchla 700. Configurations, released this past September by Important Records, features eight tracks of heavily-modulated, wave-shaped explorations drenched in effects, and was the catalyst for his latest releases.

Recorded over the span of 3 months in the fall of 2018, this album was programmed solely on the only fully-functional Buchla Touché. Developed in the early 1980s with hardware by Don Buchla and software programmed by musician David Rosenboom, the Touché features waveforms generated internally by twenty-four digital oscillators using frequency modulation and sophisticated digital and analog signal processing for timbre and output assignment, all of this controlled via a six-octave black and white keyboard, unusual for a Buchla instrument.

This LP is a continuation on themes first heard on Configurations, with more consideration given to the generation and capturing of the pieces. This album is less dark than previous releases, showcasing the incredible fidelity of the hardware used and Smiths evolution as an audio engineer. Put on some headphones, find a comfortable chair, and let this LP transport you to the mystifying southern cascades of Siskiyou County.